WASHINGTON POST: Donnie Freeman was always a big kid. His parents are tall, and he inherited their height. But when Freeman was in middle school, he kept growing. One spurt after another carried him from average height to above-average height to attention-grabbing height.
“There was one winter break in seventh grade, I grew three inches,” said Freeman, now a 6-foot-9 Division I basketball recruit as a St. John’s junior. “I came back to school, and everybody was looking at me. My family saw me every day, so they didn’t notice. But when I walked into school, people were staring.”
Freeman’s height — and his guard skills — help make him the highest-ranked recruit in one of the best classes this talent-packed area has seen in some time.
Recruiting website 247 Sports compiles composite rankings for the top 150 prospects in every class; there are eight local players on that list for the Class of 2024:
- No. 28Freeman (St. John’s)
- No. 48 Darren Harris (Paul VI)
- No. 56 Isaiah Abraham (Paul VI)
- No. 59 Robert Dockery (Jackson-Reed)
- No. 69 Drew McKenna (Glenelg Country)
- No. 81 Daquan Davis (St. John’s)
- No. 136 Caleb Williams (Sidwell Friends)
- No. 141 Patrick Ngongba (Paul VI)
“These kids, a lot of them made a name for themself on the national level in seventh or eighth grade,” said Houston Wilson, a recruiting analyst and the recruiting and evaluation director for the CP3 Rising Stars National Camp. “People have been talking about this class for a while.”
Now, the celebrated group steps fully into a hectic setting: junior year. The players have reached the point where responsibilities grow, both on and off the court. As experienced high school players, they are expected to be leaders for their teams. And as talented basketball stars, they are expected to choose a college program in the near future.
It is a double dose of pressure but hardly anything new to a group that has been assessed and analyzed since middle school. It’s not just the recruiters who recognize the power of this 2024 class; the players themselves are well aware.
“Last year, every time I felt I had a pretty good game or stretch of games, I would look over and somebody in my class was always doing just as good,” said Paul VI’s Harris, who is committed to Duke. “It’s impressive, and it’s also motivating.”
In addition to those eight, there are four players who started their careers in this area before leaving for far-flung, basketball-centric schools: No. 37 Khani Rooths (Georgetown Prep to IMG Academy in Florida), No. 76 Jaeden Mustaf (DeMatha to Carmel Christian School in North Carolina), No. 90 Del Jones (Bishop O’Connell to Huntington Prep in West Virginia) and No. 107 A.J. Swinton (DeMatha to Oak Hill in Virginia).
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Each of these hot prospects has taken his own route to this level of recognition, but oftentimes there is a growth spurt involved. Almost all of the players on this list experienced a sprouting similar to Freeman’s: Six of the nine top-100 prospects with D.C. ties are listed at 6-6 or taller.
“My growth spurt changed my life,” said the 6-7 Dockery, who will look to lead Jackson-Reed after the school lost All-Met Player of the Year Darren Buchanan to graduation. “I had to get new clothes, bigger shoes. I had to change my bed. And I had to start ducking when I was walking around places.”
McKenna, from Glenelg Country School in Howard County, showed up to high school as a 6-4 athlete who loved football. By his sophomore year, he was 6-8 and realized his future was on the basketball court. He exploded onto the recruiting scene that year, the proud representative of a private school of just 280 students. This past summer, after McKenna had established himself as a high-major prospect, some people were still unfamiliar with his school — but not many were unfamiliar with his name.
“It took some getting used to, going in the gym and people knowing who I was,” McKenna said. “It took me a while to even comprehend that. So there wasn’t a whole lot of pressure because I didn’t even realize it was happening until, like, July.”
The upside of a sudden growth spurt often means players who trained to play on the perimeter suddenly find themselves in the body of a big man. Nowadays, that kind of versatility is valued more than ever. Positionless players are in vogue, and the 2024 class has them in spades.
“The versatility is what stands out about this class,” said Freeman, who describes himself in his Twitter bio as a 6-9 shooting guard. “I’m not saying players five years ago weren’t versatile, but now it’s just everywhere. You can go down the list, and even some players that aren’t known, they have great versatility.”
Freeman received his first scholarship offer in eighth grade, from Georgetown. Since then, his recruitment has been a constant presence that runs parallel to the pressures of his school career. By far the most hectic moment in that stretch was June 15, the first day colleges could officially contact him.
He spent the night of the 14th playing video games with his teammate Davis — a pair of friends and top recruits eagerly waiting for midnight. When it came, both of their phones blew up with college interest and offers.
“We just kept checking our phones, getting excited,” Freeman said. “We didn’t even think about going to sleep — we were just full of energy that whole night.”
In late November, five months after that burst of attention, Freeman cut his list of suitors to five: Iowa, LSU, Maryland, Rutgers and Texas.
Now, he has more capacity to focus on this high school season, where he is no longer the promising underclassman studying older teammates for know-how. As a junior, he is expected to play a big role in helping the Cadets navigate an arduous schedule.
Freeman hopes to help his team win its conference. He hopes to help it win a D.C. state title. And he hopes to be the type of player he used to admire.
“Now I find myself in the leadership role,” Freeman said. “All of a sudden I have to lead by example and hope the younger guys will pick it up. Time flies.”
